PECVD flowable dielectric gap fill

Abstract

New methods of filling gaps with dielectric material are provided. The methods involve plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of a flowable polymerized film in a gap, followed by an in-situ treatment to convert the film to a dielectric material. According to various embodiments, the in-situ treatment may be a purely thermal or plasma treatment process. Unlike conventional PECVD processes of solid material, which deposit film in a conformal process, the deposition results in bottom-up fill of the gap. In certain embodiments, a deposition-in situ treatment-deposition-in situ treatment process is performed to form dielectric layers in the gap. The sequence is repeated as necessary for bottom up fill of the gap. Also in certain embodiments, an ex-situ post-treatment process is performed after gap fill is completed. The processes are applicable to frontend and backend gapfill.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.